Fast furniture is causing us to over consume due to poor quality

Research from Manor Interiors, the expert in build-to-rent furnishing solutions, has revealed that our obsession with fast furniture will see some of us cycle through 21 or more sofas in our lifetime, as poor quality and style preferences spur us to upgrade unnecessarily.

The average sofa has a lifespan of 11 years. This means between the ages of 18 and 65, the average person will own four sofas should they use them to their fullest potential.

A survey by Manor Interiors found that the majority of 65+-year-olds (44%) believe they’ve largely stuck to this throughout their lifetime, estimating they’ve owned between three and five sofas.

However, a further 35% believe they’ve owned in the region of five to 10 sofas in their lifetime, with 13% stating it’s as high as 11-20 and 4% claiming they’ve owned 21 or more.

The biggest reasons for changing items of furniture?

Poor quality was the driving factor, with uncomfortable furniture ranking as the main reason for changing our furniture.

Items breaking because of their poor quality was the second biggest reason, while falling out of love with the style of a furniture piece also ranked within the top three.

The more sensible factors of needing to either upsize or downsize also ranked high while following seasonal fashion trends, was thankfully, the least influential factor.

CEO of Manor Interiors, Farhan Malik, commented:

“It’s quite astonishing to think that some of us cycle through items of furniture at such a rate that we would end up owning 20 or more sofas in our lifetime.

Unfortunately, today’s fast furniture means that all too often we purchase a piece based on price rather than quality or durability. As a result, it needs replacing far sooner than a bespoke, quality piece of furniture would and in the long run, these lower quality pieces not only cost us more but lead to more waste in landfills up and down the nation.”